Compassion in Politics

 I ran across a Missions 2.0 project which is creating a book wiki about missional work. Here is my response to their query about giving voice to the voiceless by presumably providing more internet and computer access. While the idea initially seems cool and a help I question if its sustainable without parts, infrastructure (educational and internet specific), and people qualified to repair the devices.

My suggested alternative is other forms of direct aid or mobile micro-enterprise:What a great project! I think the idea of giving a voice to the voiceless is probably best accomplished by using micro-loans to provide mobile phones. This cuts down on the expense dramatically. There are empirical examples of this being economically advantageous for those mired in poverty. Although calls to bring computers to the developing world has been met with great excitement in the domestic technology community, I’m not sure its receiving the same reception overseas where deadly disease and government corruption are nearly ubiquitous. The mobile option via micro-enterprise loans seems to provide a superior return in terms of ameliorating poverty. Great post, great work.

What do you think? About microloans? About one laptop per child? About mobile?Update: apparently the type of phone that the Grameen bank is using is now out of date according to the World Resources Institute blog.